Homeschool Mother's Journal: Kickoff Edition

In our homeschool... We still had a number of disruptions to work around this week, but honestly - when will we have a week when that doesn't happen? We just need to roll with it. There wasn't anything that came at us unexpectedly, so we were able to get almost everything done as planned. Both kids are now working on science, but we haven't got much going with Technology or Bible at the moment.

Social Studies - This week we read about the country of Chile and about Easter Island. We also watched a couple of DVDs about the Amazonian rainforest, and Landon worked a little on researching some facts about it.  We mapped the general areas of the ancient kingdoms or the Aztecs and Incas and started reading about those civilizations, particularly the Inca. In our Eating the Americas adventure, we sampled some sweet treats from South America.

  

English - This is where I let the kids look after themselves this week. They had some IEW work to review so I had them do that on their own. Kennady is finished her first unit in Lightning Lit and has started reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. She has several weeks to read it before starting on the workbook and writing assignments that go with it.

Math - Landon is still able to stick with the one-year schedule for VideoText Interactive Algebra. He is just about finished the current unit, and we may switch to the two-year scheduling plan when he starts the next unit, depending on how he is doing. So far he has done very well with it. Kennady slogged away at understanding how to work with fractions this week, but I'm seeing some improvement. She wasn't very happy with me when I told her that she needed some extra practice with her multiplication facts (worksheets! Oh no! LOL).

Science - Landon was reviewing his Biology notes completed early in the summer, and to be honest, I'm not sure how far along he is with that. He's doing it reluctantly as it isn't his favorite subject by any means. Kennady got started with her science this week. She is doing a survey of zoology. We are going to read through The World of Animals and she is notebooking as we go.

  

Music/Art - Kennady continued with piano and guitar lessons, and with her choir this week. She says that at choir they were assigned to their sections this week, and she will be singing Soprano I. One of her art projects this week was to draw a still life of specifically chosen objects for someone special to her. She drew this picture of two of my favorite coffee mugs for me. Naturally it will be displayed - I should probably find a frame for it.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share... In the way of an update from last week, so far my expectation for the kids to keep track of how much time they are spending working on school is going very well. They are developing the habit of being faithful to write down the time spent in each subject.

In other news... I got my permanent crown on Wednesday, so that means I am royalty, right?!

Wednesday evening was the kickoff night for the youth and children's programs at church. The youth had a carnival theme, complete with a dunk tank. Kennady had a good enough arm to hit the target and dunk three of the leaders.

Today Landon is on a fishing trip with his dad, a couple friends, and one of the youth leaders.

One of my favorite things this week... has to be the picture Kennady drew especially for me.

Things I'm working on... trying to get some church events planned ahead for when we are away. I'm getting some stuff ready for a workshop I'm doing on Monday evening for moms homeschooling through high school. And trying to stay just a half step ahead with housecleaning and blogging.

My posts this week included:

• Beauty Captured - Days 32-38
• Scripture and a Snapshot - September 8, 2013
• Eating the Americas - Brazil and Chile
• Y is for... Year #16
• Virtual Refrigerator: Easter Island and Still Life
• PeopleKeys {Schoolhouse Crew Review}
• Z is for... Zoology
• School Space {Homeschool Weekly Photo Challenge}
• Beauty Captured - Days 39-45

A link to share... I found this thought-provoking article on Mind/Shift: Struggle Means Learning: Difference in Eastern and Western Cultures. It describes the different ways that parents and teachers tend to view the hard spots in the learning process, and the possible pros and cons of each. In Japan it's not unusual for a student that is struggling to master a problem to be asked to work out the problem on the board in front of the whole class.  And that this is viewed as part of the process, and the child's accomplishment when he does get it is cheered by his classmates. Children are encouraged to work hard and work through difficulties and learn that this is a major key to success. In contrast, children in the USA are more likely to be embarrassed by having others know that they are struggling with a math problem, and the struggles are seen as a weakness or a lack of intelligence.

On the bookshelf...

• The Stones Cry Out by Randall Price
• A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn
• Love's First Light by Jamie Carey
• Liberty Hill by Sonja Heisinger

A parting shot... something silly. We bought new running shoes for Kennady this week. After she'd worn them once, we realized the soles are different. They were definitely a pair at the store, so were they meant to be this way?

This post is linked at SoYouCallYourselfaHomeschooler.com, at Hammock Tracks, and at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - see what kept other homeschoolers busy this week.

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